In many industries, the traditional sources of competitive advantage tend to evaporate fairly rapidly. Therefore, managers need to continually rethink and reformulate their firm strategies. Likewise, scholars have felt compelled to shift the traditional centre of attention from competitive advantage that is sustainable over time to a focus on how firms compete by achieving a series of temporary advantages. However, the proliferation of research on temporary competitive advantage, far from building a solid body of literature, has produced a series of fragmented studies. This condition calls for detecting the state of knowledge in this realm of strategic inquiry. By leveraging the present status of the literature on temporary competitive advantage, we offer a conceptual map of the current inquiry of the antecedents, management, and consequences of temporary competitive advantage. Then, we identify the key implications for strategy theory and discuss the major challenges for cultivating fertile territories in this intriguing area of research.

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, a huge number of firms had to stop their activities due to the lockdown situation that has been decided in most countries. However, to contribute to the many emergencies caused by the pandemic through purpose‐led actions, many of those firms have reacted with innovative projects and changes in their manufacturing activities. In this paper, we address why and how these efforts have been implemented and how the situation of these firms evolved after the peak of the health crisis. Drawing on the literature about the purpose and R&D/innovation management concerning health emergency, we develop a conceptual framework to understand how different types of purpose‐led actions (i.e., short term and/or long term) and different R&D management strategies (i.e., exploitation or exploration of R&D, innovation, and manufacturing competencies) can characterize firms’ rapid response for the benefit of the community in the fight against COVID‐19, for example through the provision of medical equipment or other products and services. We validate the framework using the cases of 21 Italian firms which have taken very fast actions during the peak of the COVID‐19 emergency.

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PurposeThis study investigates the role of “soft” factors of total quality management – in terms of empowerment and engagement of employees – in facilitating or hindering organizational performance of the university technology transfer offices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), multiple regression model to test if empowerment and engagement affect organizational performance of the university technology transfer offices.FindingsThe authors found that “soft” factors of total quality management – in terms of empowerment and engagement – facilitate the improvement of organizational performance in university technology transfer offices.Practical implicationsThe authors’ analysis shows that soft total quality management practices create the conditions for improving organizational performance. This study provides practical implications by showing that, in the evaluation of the technology transfer office, not only the “hard” variables (e.g. number of employees and employee experience) but also the “soft” one (e.g. empowerment and engagement) matter. Therefore, university technology transfer managers or university technology transfer delegates should take actions to promote not only empowering employees but also create a climate conducive to employees' engagement in the university technology transfer offices.Originality/valueWith regards to the differences in organizational performances of university technology transfer offices, several studies have focused their attention on technology transfer professionals in technology transfer offices, but only a few of them have examined the “soft side” of total quality management. Thus, this study examines the organizational goals of technology transfer offices through “soft” factors of total quality management in terms of empowerment and engagement employees.